There's Only One Tree Hill
by 92sla3
Summary: The lives of six characters from the One Tree Hill canon are revisited ten years after the conclusion of season nine. The next generation of Tree Hill youth are detailed in this work which follows the lives of Jamie Scott (son of Nathan and Haley Scott), Jude & Davis Baker (sons of Julian and Brooke Baker), Sawyer Scott (daughter of Lucas and Peyton Scott), Chuck Scolnick (childho


Shelby Arnold

Dr. Riggle

ENG 206

04 May 2015

Fanfiction Semester Project – _There's Only One Tree Hill_

The lives of six characters from the _One Tree Hill_ canon are revisited ten years after the conclusion of season nine. The next generation of Tree Hill youth are detailed in this work which follows the lives of Jamie Scott (son of Nathan and Haley Scott), Jude & Davis Baker (sons of Julian and Brooke Baker), Sawyer Scott (daughter of Lucas and Peyton Scott), Chuck Scolnick (childhood friend of Jamie Scott), and Logan Evans (son of Clay and Quinn Evans).

 _Teenage Drama, Mature, Sequel, Teen Pregnancy, Suicide, Drug Abuse, Bullying_

Jamie Scott

It had been over a year since Jamie's knee surgery. Had he known the recovery would be so long and painful he never would have pushed himself so hard when conditioning in the off season. Basketball season had come around again and Jamie was in his senior year – his last chance for college scouts to see him play. Now, it's not like Jamie was lacking offers from universities, in fact he already had four full-ride athletic scholarship offers. Jamie, however, was waiting for an offer from Duke University, his father's alma mater.

When Nathan Scott, Jamie's father, was in high school he was the best basketball player Tree Hill had seen in decades, the best since his father, Dan Scott. Jamie had already beaten his father's scoring record, but the pressure to be the best and stay the best never went away.

"Hey dad," Jamie called to his father in the garage, "I met with my physical therapist yesterday and he told me I should be good to go for the season. "

"Alright James! Gotta get out there and impress those scouts in your last season. You still looking to go to Duke like your old man?"

"That's the plan. I just have to make sure I'm playing my A game at the first few games of the season –that's what Coach Taylor said. I guess after that the scouts start setting their sights on the juniors for the following year. Haha it's kind of a lot of pressure, you know?"

"Yeah, but you're a Scott, son. Pressure can't touch you! Besides, you know the pressure is always going to be there. You already beat my scoring record, so people expect you to be the next NBA star, maybe play for the Charlotte Bobcats like I did. You've got a bright future ahead of you, son."

"Jamie!" he heard his mother yell. "You've got to get going. You still have to stop by and pick up Davis before school, and you don't want to be late to your morning practice. You know Coach Taylor will have you running laps if that happens again."

"Yeah, I'm heading out now. I should be home in time for dinner tonight, depending on whether or not Mr. Mirskey lets me clock out on time, but I might have to stop by the library after work to get some books for the research paper I'm writing for my AP U.S. History class."

After morning practice concluded, Jamie tossed his basketball shoes in his locker and filled his backpack with a stack of AP textbooks. As he stood at his locker he was greeted by almost every person who walked by him. Jamie enjoyed school, but the pressure was starting to get to him. The bell rang for first period and the hallway cleared out. Jamie reached to the back of his locker and grabbed an orange prescription bottle. He poured two pills into his hand and quickly tossed them back. Jamie knew popping pain pills to help him relax was probably one of the worst decisions he'd made, but he had been doing it for a while and he wasn't sure he could stop even if he wanted to, but who could the star athlete who ranked at the top of the senior class talk to about not being perfect? He felt trapped in his situation and had no idea who he could turn to pull him out of this one.

Jude Baker

His alarm clock buzzed continuously for fifteen minutes. "Jude!" he heard his mother yell, "Get out of bed this instant. Your bus is coming down the street and I'm not going to have you missing any more school."

"Davis never has to ride the bus," Jude groaned from under his blankets. "Besides, I don't want to get up. What's the point? Just let me sleep."

"First of all, you know your brother rides to school with Jamie for basketball scrimmages in the mornings. Second of all, the point is your education. Now get up! I've got to go open the store now, but I had better not get any more calls from Principal Turner about you ditching classes."

"Whatever. Fine, I'll waste my fucking day away at school. I got nothing better to do anyway."

Jude hated the bus ride. If it wasn't seniors picking on him for being a worthless little freshman, it was Chuck tearing him to pieces. Chuck is a senior. He has bullied Jude relentlessly since they were kids. And, unfortunately for Jude, today wasn't any exception. "So you find a boyfriend yet, Jude? Come on, we all know you're a queer. Just admit it. Huh? Aren't you gonna talk?" Chuck looked around the bus to see if Jude's twin brother, Davis, was anywhere nearby. "It looks like your brother isn't around to stick up for you. I guess you actually have to speak for yourself. Come on Jude, tell us, what's it like being gay, huh?"

Luckily for Jude, the bus pulled up to the school before Chuck got him in a headlock again. Jude was used to the bullying. He was beginning to feel numb to all of the harassment. He knew he'd never be as popular as Davis. After all, Davis had practically set an impossible standard – a freshman on the Ravens' undefeated varsity basketball team. Davis was a god at Tree Hill High School, and Jude was a nobody.

The day dragged by. Jude felt like a spectator in this world where everyone else was creating a life they wanted to live. Little did they know, Jude was starting to dream about creating the plan for ending the life he didn't want to live.

Sure, he used to have hopes and dreams for his future. When he was a kid he used to shoot hoops on the river court with Davis, Jamie, and Andre. All four of them played basketball together until they were thirteen. Without question, Jamie was the star athlete of the group, but aside from him, Davis and Jude were neck and neck. All four of them dreamt of playing for the Ravens like their parents and older brothers had. But, even that dream faded away around seventh grade. Neither Davis nor any of Jude's friends could figure out why he quit basketball. Jude wasn't even entirely sure why he quit. He just lost interest and decided he didn't want to do it anymore. Andre told him that he dropped his future when he dropped the ball, and Jude was really starting to believe it these days, but playing basketball again was the last thing he wanted to do.

Fourth period English class was a brief reprieve from the loneliness. Extracting meaning from literature and creating expressive works of writing provided a safe haven for Jude. For as long as he could remember, his teachers had told him he was a gifted writer. Although, in Jude's mind this was just another way he could be considered abnormal– just like that gifted program they put him in back in elementary school. He got plenty of ridicule from his peers for that. Nonetheless, Jude cherished that hour that he could spend interpreting themes and motifs in Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

At lunch time Davis, Jamie, and Andre sat around a table in the middle of the chaotic cafeteria. Girls swarmed near the table, hoping to catch the attention of one of the star basketball players of little town, Tree Hill, North Carolina. Jude walked into the cafeteria and felt the gut wrenching torture of realizing for another day that he had no one to sit with. Usually, he'd skip lunch to avoid confronting his loneliness, but he hadn't eaten for a few days because he hadn't felt like moving from his bed.

"Hey Davis, do you mind if I sit here with you guys?" Jude asked his brother.

"Not at all, bro! Please sit down." Jude set his lunch tray down next to Davis. "I feel like we haven't talked in ages. So what's new with you? Any girls in your life, huh?"

"Umm. . . I forgot to grab a drink. I'll be right back," Jude walked away nervously. As he put his coins into the vending machine he contemplated how could ever tell Davis that he's gay. Avoiding the topic was becoming increasingly difficult. Jude stared at the ground as he walked back to the table. As he approached the spot where he had left his lunch tray he felt an abrupt flick on his forehead.

"Back it up, Eeyore. Only varsity basketball players are allowed to sit here," Chuck said with a sneer. "Don't worry; I moved your tray to a more suitable spot . . . over there at that table where no one else is sitting. Come one, Jude. You're kind of a downer. No one wants to sit by you."

"Hey man, chill! That's my brother you're talking to, you know? Leave him alone," Davis said as he shoved Chuck away from Jude. As Jude began walking out of the cafeteria he looked back and saw his brother watching with remorseful eyes. Jude knew his brother wasn't a jerk, and he didn't expect him to ditch his basketball buddies to hang out with such a "downer." He hurriedly grabbed his book bag and lunch tray from the lonely table across the cafeteria. The tears began to swell in his throat. He gulped them back, knowing that crying in the middle of the cafeteria would only make life at Tree Hill High twice as bad as it already was for him.

Jude dumped his lunch in the trash and headed toward his locker to grab his cigs and his copy of The Outsiders before ditching early. He always read The Outsiders on days when he felt like he couldn't fake the happy facade well enough to ward off the attention of teachers and counselors. That was the last thing he needed, people who didn't actually care butting into his life and acting like they suddenly give a shit about his worthless little existence.

Walking through the halls of Tree Hill High always reminded him of the reputation he wasn't living up to. His mom was captain of the Ravens cheerleading squad and, of course, his brother is the athlete who always seems to score the game-winning shot. Jude knew he didn't belong. He thought about calling his mom. She did seem to understand him, and she usually did a pretty good job of consoling him, but Jude was tired of being a burden on everyone.

As he approached his locker he noticed a folded yellow Post-It note sticking out from the grate. He snatched the note and looked over both shoulders to see if anyone was watching. He figured it was probably some hind of prank that Chuck or one of his buddies orchestrated to embarrass him. Once Jude felt certain that he was alone in the hallway and no one was watching from around any corners, he opened the note.

 _Jude, we haven't talked in a while, but there's something_

 _I gotta tell you about what happened between us a few months ago._

 _It was a fun night and I don't regret being with you,_

 _but I regret that it turned out like this… Get yourself tested ASAP!_

Jude knew what the note was about. He had been with a guy last month. They hooked up a few times, but then he never saw the guy again. He just stopped coming to school. The note made Jude suspicious. He had heard a rumor that this guy had HIV, but he didn't believe it. After all, he had heard plenty of ridiculous rumors spread about himself over the years. Jude wondered if maybe Chuck wrote it to freak him out or something. It couldn't be that guy he hooked up with. That guy had been M.I.A for weeks. Nevertheless, Jude felt his stomach knot up as he considered what the note could mean.

His breathing grew rapid and his nerves got the best of him. Crouching down in the gravel parking lot in front of the school, Jude broke down into heaving sobs. He couldn't take it anymore – being a social outcast, the relentless bullying, and most of all, the loneliness. He sat back against the broken chain link fence of the tennis courts to consider what it all meant. As one of the broken wires from the fence poked around the side of his neck Jude felt a load lift from his shoulders. He had an idea. If the test was positive, he'd end it all…tonight.

Davis Baker

Every day after school, Davis would turn on his Wii and load his Super Smash Brothers game. He and Jude had played video games for an hour after school every day for as long as they could remember. They would snack on whatever they could find in the refrigerator and talk about what happened at school that day. After that they would shoot hoops until their mom got home from work and they'd go inside and help her make dinner. Since their dad was always off at film shoots, Davis and Jude both felt it was their responsibility to help their mother as much as they could while their dad was away.

That's how it used to be anyway. Davis spent a lot of time these days thinking about how things used to be. Jude had changed, and Davis was probably more aware of this than anyone else. As twins, Davis and Jude had always had a very special connection. These days, Jude would come home from school (on the days that he actually went to school) and go into his bedroom, shut the door, and go to sleep. Davis and his mother were both very concerned about Jude, but they had no idea how to help him. They had tried talking to him and his mother had tried sending him to talk to a counselor, but Jude refused to open up to anyone.

Davis had a lot on his mind these days. Earlier that week he had been suspended from school for getting into a fist fight with Chuck. He had seen Chuck relentlessly torment his twin brother ever since Jude quit playing basketball two years ago (that's when Jude had really started to change). Davis noticed his brother becoming increasingly depressed and he knew being bullied by Chuck wasn't making things any better. He had tried telling Chuck to chill out and leave his brother alone, but that didn't seem to work out. After Davis saw his brother leave the school crying he snapped and punched Chuck in the face. Needless to say, Davis' mother was not very happy, but she understood why he did what he did.

As Davis sat on his bed thinking about how things used to be, he felt his cellphone vibrate in his jacket pocket. He saw his Sawyer's name appear on the screen and he figured she was texting to see how his week of suspension was going. Davis opened the text from his girlfriend and quickly became sick to his stomach upon reading the text.

 _I don't know how to go about telling you this, so I'm just going to say it. I missed my period this month. I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive. You should come over today if you can. We definitely need to talk._

Davis felt a chaotic mess of thoughts swell in his mind. He knew he should go over to Sawyer's house so they could decide what to do, but he also wanted to stay home and wait for his brother to get home from school. His mother had told him to keep an eye on Jude because she was very worried about him, but Davis figured he could go over to Sawyer's house for a little bit. Jude should be fine by himself for a little bit tonight.

Sawyer Scott

She had heard the story a thousand times from her father and her grandmother. Sawyer promised her parents and her grandmother that she would heed the warning. "Focus on your future. You only get to do high school once, so enjoy the time and don't make the same mistake I made. I love your father, but when I got pregnant with him in my senior year of high school I knew it would change the course of my future, and I was right. It definitely made things a lot harder. I just don't want you to face that same hardship."

Sawyer replayed the advice her grandmother had given her before she started her freshman year of high school. She didn't know how she would ever be able to tell her family that she had, in fact, made the same mistake. She just texted her boyfriend, Davis, to let him know. He was the only guy she had ever been with, so she was positive it was his baby, but Davis questioned this.

"How do you know it's mine? Are you absolutely positive? Is there absolutely no chance that this baby could belong to someone else . . .? I'm sorry. I don't mean to imply that you would ever cheat on me. I'm just freaking out. I've got a lot on my mind these days," Davis told Sawyer.

"I'm positive the baby is yours. I've never been with anyone else. Remember a month and a half ago when the cheerleading squad accompanied the varsity basketball team on their trip to Raleigh? If I had to guess, that's when I'd say it happened."

"What do you mean? How could you possibly guess that? You just took the pregnancy test. You have no idea how far along it is. Besides, you're on the pill…"

"About that, I missed a day when we were on the trip. I took it as soon as I remembered, but in the chaos of traveling, packing, and unpacking I guess it slipped my mind. I took it as soon as I remembered, but I guess that wasn't good enough."

"Why didn't you tell me that?! We never would have done it if you had told me there was a chance you could get pregnant! I can't be a father! I'm on the varsity team, I've got my own problems to deal with. I can't handle this right now. Look, we can go to Planned Parenthood in the morning and see what we can do about taking care of this…situation."

"Davis, I'm not aborting this baby. If that's what you're getting at then I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen."

"Are you crazy?! We're teenagers. We don't know anything about how to take care of a baby! Look, I've got to head home and check on Jude. You take some time to think this through. Call me when you've come to your senses. We can deal with it then."

Davis left and Sawyer sat on the front porch of her parents' house, thinking about how she could tell her family that she had made the one mistake they had always cautioned her about. She thought about how Davis' determination to abort the pregnancy so they could escape the whole situation. That seemed like an easy fix, but she didn't know if she could live with herself if she did that. She supported the right for women to choose to have abortions, but now that she found herself in the situation, she knew it was something she could never do. Her own father was the result of an accidental pregnancy, and he has been the most influential person in her life, and as a best-selling author, he has inspired millions of other people. If her grandmother had gotten an abortion, millions of people would have missed out on that inspiration, and she wouldn't even exist. As all of these thoughts flooded Sawyer's mind she couldn't help take one thing into consideration above all else – Would Davis leave her if she made the decision to keep the baby?

Chuck Scolnick

"You get back here, boy! I ain't finished with you! You keep running and I'll beat you twice as bad when you do come back," Chuck heard his father yell down the street.

He kept running at a fast, steady pace for as long as he could, and he didn't turn around to see if his father was following him in his truck like he did last time. Chuck felt blood trickling out of his ear as he ran. His father had smacked him so hard that his ear was bleeding. It wasn't too bad this time (compared to other times when his father got angry).

One time his father broke his wrist because Chuck accidentally changed the channel while his dad was watching wrestling. Another time, as he was thinking about when he decided to run down the street to get away, his father followed him in his truck and tried to run him down. Chuck ended up with a sprained knee that time because he dove over a guard rail and rolled down a hill to escape getting hit by the truck. As he kept running he thought about what he did this time to make his father angry. He couldn't even remember. It didn't seem to take much to push him over the edge.

Chuck kept running until he got to Jamie's house. Jamie and Chuck had been friends since they were kids, but these days they hadn't much of each other. Chuck knew it was his fault that they were growing apart. Despite his best effort to change, Chuck always put on the façade of the tough, popular kid. A lot of his friends hated the way Chuck treated the freshmen. He was a bully, and he knew it, so he didn't blame his friends for pushing him away. This time, however, Chuck hoped Jamie would open the door and maybe invite him to stay for dinner.

"Chuck, buddy! What's up? Come on in, I'll go grab Jamie," Jamie's father said to Chuck as he answered the door. Chuck walked in and was greeted by Jamie's mom who immediately noticed Chuck's bleeding ear.

"Chuck, what happened?! You're bleeding!" Mrs. Scott said.

"Oh, haha yeah I was wrestling with my brother and he accidentally got my ear. It's fine though. No big deal." Jamie walked down the steps and greeted Chuck with a high five.

"What's up, man? Want to go shoot some hoops before dinner? My dad is making his famous barbecue ribs. You'd be stupid not to stay."

"Definitely! That sounds great!" Jamie grabbed his basketball and Chuck followed him out to the drive way. They played a few games of one-on-one until Jamie's dad came out and called the boys in for dinner.

"Hey Chuck," Mr. Scott said, "What do you say about shooting a few hoops with a washed up NBA star before dinner?"

"Ha! I could beat you in a game of one-on-one any day," Chuck replied. As they were playing, Mr. Scott asked Chuck how school was going and how things were at home. Chuck hesitated. "What do you mean? Everything is great."

"Maybe not so great, Chuck? I was talking to Coach Taylor today. I'll be taking the assistant coach job starting next month, so he was catching me up on how all the players are doing. He's worried about you. Four D's on your midterm grade report? What's going on?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"It's kind of hard living where I live. My dad doesn't have a lot of patience, and my mom is hardly ever around. I wish my dad wasn't around either. It'd sure make things easier for me. It doesn't really matter though. I'm moving once I get a job after graduation."

"You're welcome over here anytime, Chuck. But I need you to know that if you don't get your act together, Coach Taylor and I will have to drop you from the team. You've got promise, Chuck. You're a smart kid, but you have to apply yourself. Make this last year count."

Chuck walked home after dinner with the Scotts. He thought about how Jamie doesn't even realize how lucky he is to have a loving mother and a father who doesn't beat the shit out of him. He kicked the gravel below his feet and stared at the ground as he walked. Jamie would grow up to be a great man just like his father, Chuck thought, but that gave him a grim realization. He would probably grow up to be just like his dad.

Chuck quietly crawled in his bedroom window to avoid waking his father from his drunken stupor, although, he realized the chances of waking his father up from that were pretty slim. He tossed and turned as he was trying to fall asleep. All he could think about was becoming his father. He knew he'd get on the bus the next morning and torment his classmates just as he had every day before. He didn't want to be that person anymore, but he figured the best thing would be to accept it because there's no way out.

Logan Evans

The crisis nursery was always looking for volunteers. Logan saw some pictures of abandoned children on their website, so he decided to fill out a volunteer application. When the school day came to a close, Logan grabbed the application from his locker and headed over to the crisis nursery. He walked in to find a dozen children, ranging in age newborn to twelve years. The receptionist took his application and told him to take a seat in the lobby.

He flipped through a nearby _Airborne_ magazine. Planes had always interested him, and he was working on getting his pilot's license. Logan never seemed to fit into any social circles with his peers. He was shy and spent a lot of time in the library, reading and helping the librarians shelve books. His parents were a little worried about how reclusive he was becoming, so they suggested he do something in the community. The school counselor suggested volunteer work, and Logan was actually pretty excited about the opportunity. Unlike a lot of his peers, Logan rarely got angry at his parents, or any adult, for making constructive suggestions. After all, what eighteen year old knows everything?

The receptionist called Logan's name and led him to the supervisor's office. Logan excitedly shook the supervisor's hand and jumped right into conversation.

"I've heard a lot about the crisis center from my school's guidance department, and I've been eager to get involved. I hope to become a social worker someday – that, or a fighter pilot. Haha anyway, I feel like I could connect to these kids pretty well and I am excited to help however I can…"

"Well, you sure are enthusiastic! You do realize it's a volunteer position, right? We can't afford to pay you anything," the supervisor said.

"No, I know. I'm excited to volunteer. I actually haven't been this excited about something in a while. I can relate to some of these kids, so I want to help them. You see, my mother died when I was a baby and in my father's grieving he wasn't able to take care of me, so I went into foster care for a while."

"I see, so are you sure you'll be okay working in cases of abandonment? It sounds like it could hit some personal spots for you."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be fine."

"Alright, well, I'd like you to meet one of the kids this afternoon. His name is Liam, he's five years old, and he came to us a few months ago after his mother passed to cancer. We haven't heard from his father in quite some time, but Liam seems to be adjusting pretty well. I'll be back in just a moment." Logan waited as the supervisor went to retrieve Liam.

Liam ran around the corner and jumped into Logan's lap. "Hi," Liam said as he waved a grape jelly covered hand in Logan's face. "You wanna play cars with me? I haven't had no one to play with. There's lots of babies here. They can't play." Logan looked at Liam and smiled. He felt a sense of empathy that he had expected, but he also started to feel very angry – angry at Liam's father, angry at his own father, angry at his adoptive mother for trying to replace his real mother. He felt a few tears roll down his cheek. "You ok, mister?" Liam asked. The supervisor scooped Liam up and began carrying him back to the playroom.

"I'll tell you what, Logan, how about you take a few days to think about it and then get back to us," the supervisor said in response to Logan's upset demeanor.

"Alright, of course. I'll get back to you." Logan quickly left the crisis nursery and got into his car. He sobbed in the parking lot of the nursery for a bit. How had so much time passed without thoughts of his own abandonment coming up? Why didn't he remember his real mother? What made his dad think he could just replace her?

When Logan got home that night he ignored his parents as they asked how his day had gone. He threw his backpack against the wall, ripped off his jacket, and muttered curse words under his breath. It scared him that he was so angry. He had never experienced any emotion this strong before. Well, he was as happy as he'd ever been when he was reunited with his father and his father's new wife ten years ago, but now he was angry at his eight year old self for forgiving his father so easily.

He heard a knock on the door, "Logan, your Aunt Haley, Uncle Nathan, and Cousin Jamie are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. You want to go to the grocery store with me to pick up something to make?"

Logan heard his father's wife, as he now thought of her, and he didn't respond. Instead, he quickly packed a bag and climbed out his bedroom window. He had no idea where he would go, but he had to get away. He thought about Liam and every other kid who had ever been abandoned, and his anger continued to grow.

He drove off before his parents even realized he was gone. Logan knew exactly where he was going. As far as he was concerned he didn't have any family left. On the drive, Logan thought about how his day changed so quickly. This morning when he woke up, he ate breakfast with his parents and helped his dad set the sprinklers on the lawn. That was only thirteen hours ago. The back and forth emotions of sadness and anger confused him, so he chose not to think about it. The only thing both emotions could agree on was that he wished his parents hadn't made the suggestion for him to volunteer in the community. He was perfectly happy being the reclusive kid he was, but they ruined that. He started to think it wasn't such a good idea to listen to the suggestions of adults.

As Logan pulled into the parking lot he reminded himself that he only had to make decisions for himself now. He didn't have a family and he didn't have any friends in Tree Hill – all of his friends were scattered throughout the country at foster homes. And with that reminder, Logan got out of his car and walked into the Army enlistment office. Enlisting was something he had always wanted to do, but his parents talked him out of it. He didn't care now. He was tired of fighting to be someone he never was. He never fit in in Tree Hill anyway, so he was moving on. Life was so perfect for everyone else in this town, but never for him.

19


End file.
